Promise
by Warlordess
Summary: After Kagome leaves for home, without InuYasha's permission, he ponders whether or not she's forgotten her promise to always be by his side. Reference to InuKag, one-shot. Dedicated to Shippo123!


Promise

By: Chibi-Suiko

A/N: I was just reading some Digimon fics on FFN (go figure) and this came to mind after thinking in between about a couple other Inu one-shots I've posted. So, again, pointless, not-worth-reading, and possibly flamable. Just be a bit kind. Thanks.

Also: Now, I know that you don't like to hear your authors complaining right before a crumby fic but I just felt I had to say that... PARENTS ARE DECEITFUL MORONS! An example of this is last Friday, when my mother dragged me unwillingly to my dentist and told me I was just getting a cleaning... Well, I just happened to walk out of there an hour later with two new fillings. And then I had to wait in the city for an hour for my brother to show up on a Greyhound bus... Can you say, 'parental conspiracy'?

Summary: After Kagome leaves for home, without InuYasha's permission, he ponders whether or not she's forgotten her promise to always be by his side. Reference to Inu/Kag. One-shot.

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't want anyone else to own it. Don't wanna get sued for stealing characters.

Dedication: Hmm... Let me think about it... I guess I'll dedicate this one to Shippo123, and Shippo alone! YOU ROCK! you got one of my old-time idols to notice me with that little author's note in your fic!

~*~*~

There was no scent that lingered in the air to determine that the young miko was still in the Warring States Era. So InuYasha, who stood obligingly beside the well, knew what that had to have meant. There was a trail of human footprints leading towards the base, footprints that were obviously from shoes of a very rare and specific kind. They were definetely hers.

So InuYasha was standing beside the well, looking less than happy, possibly a bit hurt. _Why would she do something like that?_** The words rung relentlessly inside his head. Now, if you had asked our dear Hanyou that he had been hurt by her actions, he would have denied it; period. But he wasn't up for defending his pride that he didn't care for her as much as he let on. In fact, InuYasha was quite apparently hurt that Kagome would disappear into the future, without telling him.**

He knew that they had had another fight, that he had mentioned 'Kikyou' and their uncanny and yet despisable 'likeness and unlikeness' _AND _**that he had offended her 'moral being' as she called it. But those words had **_nothing _**on this. Technically, Kagome was allowed to come and go as she pleased, she just had to make mention of it first. But, this time around, she had up and left like a gust of autumn wind. It was something that InuYasha wouldn't have allowed, had he known.**

But he _hadn't_**.**

Which was why InuYasha was leaning over the base of the very well that could take him back to the young girl who'd saw fit to break the one promise that the Hanyou felt most at peace holding. It had meant so much to know that she only wanted to be with him, if not _with _**him.**

And the thought of this promise brought memories of her last unauthorized leaving... Brought back visions of burning tears, stares, fierce states... And then, pained grins, clasped hands, and soft voices.

__

"InuYasha... I just want to be with you. I don't care about anything else..." **Words that could only make him smile. She had cared about him that much, only wanting to walk at his side and help him all that she could. And she had, just by standing next to him and being who she was.**

But this... This wasn't like the dear girl who'd made that promise. He knew that he was at fault but, who said promises were meant to be broken?

He was hurt; Gods, he felt like Kami had torn out his soul and trampled it with the royal saints! But he wouldn't care to show it, wouldn't care to crumple, even once. He didn't even go to pick her up from her time. If with him wasn't where she wanted to be, then where she was would be just fine. But InuYasha would never have told anyone that he was pondering the girls' happiness.

Running his hands over the trimmed and ripened wood of the well, InuYasha sat on the edge. It was something he had learned to do after so much time. Smell her scent closer, come and wait for her arrival... It was almost like being a faithful pet. Sure, he'd have been pissed if someone told him that but, under all that anger, he knew it was true. He just didn't want Kagome to come back and meet emptiness. Really, she came to help them gather the shards; might as well make the scene she first saw with her eyes a pleasant one.

But there was more than that. InuYasha wouldn't let Kagome appear in the Feudal Age to the depriving empty area that was his forest. Greet the guests, be a host... Yeah, that's what she'd say if he _wasn't_** there to meet her. **

He just hoped that she came back this time around.

__

...

****

The fight had been harsh. It had been plain _brutal_**. But she knew she'd gone too far when she'd jumped through that opening. And the fact that InuYasha hadn't come back for her was proof. He had obviously found out she'd gone, he had the senses to track her from Japan to the Arctica. But he also had the memory of her promise, which she'd grumpily ignored after storming off in her rage.**

Did she regret it? Sure. Hell, it was like death was beckoning her, daring her to even try and go back now.

But it would have been easier to face all the fires of Hades than go back to Him and tell him that she was sorry.

And as she cried, which was something she had always been easily put to, and gripped her pillow to her face, memories of her own flashed. The God tree, the three single jewel shards held in her palm, the realization of her love for him... It was like her entire life spent in three small thoughts. But they were phenomenal thoughts, really.

She sighed; there was no time like the present to get your head bitten off by the man you loved, right? She just didn't want to face the fury and hidden pain that would catch her eye as soon as she met him again. She knew that it would send her crying again, and he would be forced to try and calm her, which was something that he didn't like to do at all... And it would probably make him feel guilty, though he wouldn't say out loud.

It was just like him to try and weigh her world on his shoulders. Although modern convenience alone would have knocked him for a loop.

She smiled softly at her own thoughts. It was always quite funny when he'd come to her time and see all every-day things as anti-youkai sabotage. But her optimistically high thinking was brought down by her next thought; _would he forgive me?_

...

****

The question was of no concept to him. Of course he'd forgive her! He'd go on a bit, try and act as if it had been nothing, that maybe he was just about ready to go and drag her back from her time but... It was just too easy to tell that he'd been waiting for her to come back on her own. That'd he been holding out for her to meet him there.

And so you could tell how his ears twitched and his eyes snapped open at the sound and scent of her drifting up from the bottom of the well. He turned around to meet her stare, one filled with pleas for forgiveness and apology. It was silent for a moment.

"I-InuYasha... Ano... Gomen ne..." She muttered, a new blush of embarrassment appearing upon her face.

He didn't bother smiling, just stared before replying, "Feh. 'Bout time you got back, Kagome. I've only been waiting for six hours." But there was a light in his eyes that suggested his wait felt like so much longer.

"G-Gomen, again. I didn't mean--"

"Just let me give you a hand. You're forgiven..." His voice was that of a growl as he took her hand and pulled her out of the well the rest of the way. They stood there for a moment before shaking each other's stares and, "...Just to let you know... I'm glad you came back. I was...worried."

"I was too... Worried that you'd hold a grudge against me for breaking my promise and leaving you behind. But I swear, InuYasha, I-I didn't mean to! I--" 

"Wench, shut up!" Her breath caught in her throat, "Don't worry about it! Just-just know that I would have waited for you. Even if your disappearance seemed final. Demo, I was afraid you'd forgotten."

Still stunned by his comment about waiting for her, it took a while for the last one to sink in, "InuYasha was..?"

"Of course! No one vanishes on a whim when bonded by a promise like that! Not unless-unless... Not unless they were angry enough to forget it and stop caring..." The words hit hard, stung like the swipe of a hand across a cheek. Now she was going to hit rock bottom; she was going to cry.

"InuYasha, never..." She stopped for a moment and bit her lip, "Promises are no good if they're broken. Gomen ne, that I tarnished what bond we had. I can only hope that you'll let me try again. I-I never forgot it. I knew that it was there... I just chose to ignore it, sadly. I won't lie to you. But I'll try harder. I only want to be beside you InuYasha, even if only... Like this."

"Don't cry. It doesn't matter. I know what if feels like to forget everything, even if only for a few moments." She looked to the ground, realizing he meant his meetings with Kikyou, "...I get like that every time you're hurt in a battle. I never like risking you that way."

Her head shot up in surprise. She smiled and clasped his hand tightly in hers, "So-so, it's... It's really okay for us to have a second chance?"

"It's always okay. Always, as long as you return."

~*~*~

A/N: Hah hah hah! Chibi is evil... Chibi is evil... Wow, I'm good. Kinda. C'mon, the fic wasn't that bad! Try and tell me what you think. This was a more direct approach than some of my others but I thought that it was good all the same. So tell Chibi what you think. She'll try and handle it, though she's as dramatic and emotional as Kagome. And if I can't then I'll just have to send a virus into your computers! YAY! No, just kidding. Keep the probable flames light and admit to anything you thought was off, OOC, or too repetitive. I've gotten comments about that stuff before.

And, just something I want to say; I DID NOT STEAL ANY IDEA'S! SO IF ANYONE ELSE HAS WRITTEN SOMETHING ALONG THESE LINES, I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!

That's all.

--Chibi ending transmission.


End file.
